8 Things To Know Before Posting in WordPress.Com Forums

8 Essential Basic Things You Must Know Before Posting in WordPress.Com Forums

1. Please Make Sure You Have a WordPress.Com Blog
The forums get at least one post every other day from bloggers who have a self-hosted blog who use the free WordPress blogging software. For these group of people, they have to post their questions in the WordPress.org forums. You are in the right place if your blog is hosted by wordpress.com. To learn more about the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, see this article.

2. How to make your name link to your blog:
Go into your dashboard -> Users -> Personal Settings -> then scroll down to 'Account Details'. In the spot where it says 'website' fill in the address of your blog and save the changes.
Now... when you comment here and on other blogs, your name will link to your blog. If you do this before you post your request for help, it will allow forum volunteers to be able to help you quicker since they won't have to ask you for a link and wait until you come back to post one.

3. Please Try to Search The Support Pages First
WordPress has Support pages, and an FAQ sticky at the forums. You should read at least the sticky before posting, because if you might have a really elementary blogging problem and the answer is waiting for you there. Would recommend the Support pages though, since it comes with a search button.

4. Please Try to Search Past Forum Threads
If you can’t find a satisfactory answer from the Support pages, the chances are pretty high that your blogging troubleshooting has been experienced before, which is why all past threads are never deleted for the purpose of education for future users. Three attempts at the search button of the forums should lead you to the right thread, but you have to be a little specific and not just type one-letter searches to narrow down the search result. Self’s favourites are the threads marked [closed] because they’re usually juicy and dramatic threads.

5. Please Be Polite
Politeness is the absolute in WordPress forums. If you’re polite, volunteers will be polite in return. Politeness include saying thank you after your blogging issue has been resolved, because less than half actually do that. Do not be disheartened if you get a relatively rude reply in return, because it’s not usually meant personally. Just reply politely in return. Volunteers will remember that and are more likely to assist you better in future.

6. Please Be Specific
A lot of people seeking help from the forums are not explicit when explaining their problems. This lengthens the process of solving their blogging problems. The more specific you are in explaining your situation, the faster volunteers can solve your issue because they don’t have to spend time asking you more questions to help them help you. Sometimes the language barrier due to your lack of proficiency in English may hinder your being able to specify your problem. If so, there is a sticky marked International Forums, which provide links to other WordPress forums in different languages.

Please include a link to your blog or the specific blog post that has the problem.

7. Please Remember the Forums are Mostly Made Up of Volunteers
There are people who create new threads thinking as if the forums are manned by staff only. This is not true; in fact, a lot of support questions are solved by volunteers and voluntary moderators. WordPress Forums works on a volunteer system. Occasionally, some people with the label Key Master help out in the forums. They are WordPress staff. If you want to contact the WordPress staff directly, look for the feedback button on the top right of your Dashboard. It should be there during weekdays, but not during weekends as staff do not work then. Writing to Feedback does not guarantee a reply, but it is guaranteed that your message will be read. So the forums are still your best bet of looking for a solution to your blogging issues.

8. Please Remember that WordPress.Com is a Free Blogging Service
There are people who complain in the forums and demand for things as if they are paying for this. Although there are certain paid options like customised domains, CSS and such, wp.com remains largely a free service and as such, you should ask for anything politely and respect any decision that rejects your request. Don’t give up though, because they could change their minds and offer a feature that you might have requested before if there is demand from other users.